Knitted hair drying cap



July l2, 1960 E. w. wElrzEL KNITTED HAIR DRYING CAP Filed July 19, 1956 INVENroR: EDWARD N WE/rza.

BY nimb,

ATTORNEY 5 KNITTED HAIR DRYING CAP Edward W. Weitzel, 30 4th St. NE., Hickory, N.C.

Filed July '19, 1956, Ser. No. 598,820

7 Claims. (Cl. 21'9-46) This invention relates to an electric hair drier of the cap type formed of resistance wire and adapted to be worn over a persons hair.

Cap-type electric driers have been proposed heretofore but have not proven satisfactory in that they have been made of a plurality of resistance wires joined together and supported by a frame. The use of joined wires for drying wet hair isdangerous and a xed size or rigid frame has limited the range of use of such prior driers toheads of a certain size and such driers do not t suiiiclently snug for good drying results. Prior attempts to provideA a successful drier of this type include driers having large openings between the resistance wires to permit hair to be pulled through the openings for curling and the like. Such driers have had insutlicient body to stay inplace without some sort of rigid frame and the large openings have reduced the drying eiiiciency to a point where `such driers have not been practical.

It is therefore the primary object of this invention to Aovercome these and other defects in prior driers of this type and toprovide a iiexible expansible drier formed in the shape of a cap from a single end or strand of resistance'wire knitted or looped into a continuous band of fabric with relatively small openings between the loops.

It is Vanother object of the invention to provide an electric hair drier so constructed as to give maximum heating results and to permit ready escape of moisture evaporated fromV the hair by the heating element.

A vfurther object is to provide an electric` hair ,drier which is light in weight and which is so constructed as to be expansible to fit evenly and snugly uponthe head of the person using it.

A still further object is to provide an electric hair drier formed of a single insulated resistance wire of knitted or link construction that affords a maximum of heating eiect to the hair, and because of the link construction conforms readily to the shape and size of the head and with relatively small open spaces between the heating elements.

Some of the objects of the invention having been stated, other objects will appear as the description proceeds when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is an isometric view of the hair drier shown as worn in use and illustrating its loop construction;

Figure 2 is an enlarged detail view showing more clearly the loop or knitted construction of the drier.

The hair drier of this invention can perhaps be best described by the manner in which it is constructed.

The material out of which the drier is constructed is a single length of resistance Wire which is electrically insulated in a suitable conventional manner as by coating the wire with a suitable insulating material such as a polyvinyl chloride compound which insures a maximum of safety. Other insulating material or resistance Wire which is light in weight and sufficiently flexible to be formed into loops may be used.

The drier is formed out of a single strand or end States arent Patented ta, tseu ice of wire which is of sufficient length to form all of the loops and leave ends of suiiicient length to connect the drier to a source of current.

The numeral 10 broadly designates the hair drier which is formed from a single end of resistance wire and in the preferred method of construction the resistance wire intermediate its ends is formed into a first course l1 and one end of the wire is then knitted into a second course 12 by drawing the loops through the first course in a well known manner and additional courses of any desired number are knitted in a continuous circular manner as clearly illustrated in Figure l. After the desired number of courses have been formed by the interlooping or knitting of the resistance wire to form a hair drier of the cap-type of a desired size, a terminal course 13 is Vformed and the Vresistance wire is then interlaced through the loops of course ,13 to form an anti-ravel edge, circle or ring 14. If desired, a separate length of material may be used to form the ring 14.

Prior to the interlacing of the ring 14 through the loops t of course `13, the knitted courses comprise a band or circle of material of cylindrical shape. -If desired, the drier may be used in this condition, however, it is preferred, as illustrated, to draw the loops of course 13 together by the ring 14 to gather and partially close the upper portion of the drier. This tends to Vattenuate the loop structure somewhat so that the knitted loops at the top of the drier are, as appear to be, somewhat smaller than those at the bottom of the drier.

According to the preferred method, after formation of the ring 14 and gathering of the terminal loops, the end of resistance wire used to knit the body of the drier to form the ring 14 and indicated here as 15 is secured to itself and some of the terminal loops of course 1,3 as by Ia suitable knot 16. A portion ofthe wire 15 is shaped in Figure 2 to `clearly illustrate the manner in which it is tied into the body of the drier.

The end 15 of resistance wire is then fed down past `or through the body'of `the drier and secured to the other Vor free end of the resistance wire 17 adjacent the first Ycourse 11 as by aknot 118. The two ends 15 and 17' of loops forming course 11 to form a ring or the likeV around the base of the cap, which ring could be elastic, if desired, and need not be connected to the resistance Wire.

The term knitted as used herein refers to any type of construction wherein a single length of resistance wire is looped or linked to form Ian open mesh fabric and specifically includes crochet or similar construction.

It will be noted that the size of the loops formed from the resistance wire is lrelatively small and generally not sufficiently large to permit curls of hair to be projected therethrough. This is an important and desirable feature of the invention as it causes pin curls and the like to be held snugly in position during drying and the small size of the loops results in highly efficient and rapid drying of the hair while the large number of loops and the open mesh construction permits evaporation of moisture from the hair.

By forming the hair drier from a single strand of resistance wire, the danger of loose joints or connections of two or more wires is eliminated and the knit or loop con- 4permit a snug tit on an adults head and also on the head of a child.

' It is thus seen that I have provided an improved hair drier of loop construction formed from a single end of `resistance wire which eliminates the need of a frame or the like and which readily conforms to the shape of the head of the user. While the drier is primarily designed for use with hair after washing and/ or setting and curl ing, it may also be used in hot oil head treatments or as a heating cap.

In the drawings and specication there has been set forth Ia preferred embodiment of the invention and, although specic terms are employed, they are used in a generic and descriptive sense only and not for purposes of limitation, the scope of the invention being defined in the olaircls.V

I claim:

1. An electric hair drier having a body portion formed of a single insulated resistance Wire formed into a 'series of rings formed of interconnected loops, each 'series of vloops `being interlaced with the preceding series and terminating in a series at the bottom and the top, the -top series of loops having the wire extending through each loop and drawn into a ring and secured to hold the loops in a ring-like form and passing down through some of the other loops` in the several series, the bottom series being secured against raveling, and a connector to which both ends of the wire are connected. 2. An electric hair drier as claimed in claim 1, wherein a control unit is connected to the end portions of said wire between the connector and the drier.

V3. An electric hair drier comprising; a continuous strand of insulated resistance wire arranged in a plurality of circular courses having loops therein, said plurality of circular courses being disposed one above the other and having loops progressively decreasing in size,

. each of said plurality of circular courses having its loops interlaced with the corresponding loops of the course adjacent thereto to hold said plurality of circular courses together in knitted relationship, the upper terminal 4. An electric hair drier comprising; insulated resistance wire `arranged in a plurality of circular courses having loops therein, each of' said plurality of circular courses having its loops interlaced with the corresponding loops of the course adjacent thereto to hold said plurality of circular courses together, means securing the upper terminal course `against raveling, whereby the interlaced loops of said plurality of circular courses detine a cap adapted to conform to the head of a wearer, and an electric plug connected to the terminal ends of the wlre.

5. An electric hair drier as claimed in claim 4, wherein ya control unit is connected to the terminal end portions of the wirebetween the electric plug and the drier.

f 6. An electric hair drier having a body portion formed of insulated resistan c e wire larranged in a plurality'of rings formed of respective series of interconnected loops, each series of loops being interlaced with the preceding series and terminating in a bottom series and a top series, means securing the top series of loops against raveling, the bottom series of loops being secured against raveling, the interlaced loops forming a cap adapted to conform to the head of -a wearer, and a connector t0 which the terminal ends of the wire are connected.V

7. An electric hair drier lasY claimed in claim 6, wherein a control unit is connected to the terminal end portions of the wire between the connector and the drier.

References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITEDV STATES PATENTS 

